Memory Card Questions

[shovenose]

For my new D3200 I am going to use the following memory cards:
-Kingmax Class6 16GB MicroSD card with SD card adapter (got it from my old Android phone)
-New from Amazon SanDisk Extreme Class10 UHS-1 32GB SD card
-New from Amazon Sony Class10 UHS-I 32GB SD card
-New from Transcend Class10 16GB SD card


Couple questions:
-In order of quality/performance, is this rank right: SanDisk, Sony, Transcend, Kingmax.
-How many photos could I fit on a 32GB card and on a 16GB card?
-What's the best way to transfer the photos to my computer? Take the SD card out and plug it into a USB 3.0 SD card reader I also ordered? Does the camera have a USB connection?

Thanks and look to be a helpful, participating member here but learning comes first

 

[Tinderbox (UK)]

I prefer Samsung memory cards they are built to last and fast enough for me, also if you dont have hundreds of photo`s to transfer have an look at eye-fi wifi memory cards, i have one and it great.

John.

 

[robbins.photo]

I use SanDisk Extreme Pro 95 mbs cards myself - they give me a much faster write speed which helps a lot when shooting in continuous mode. Bit more expensive than your standard class 10 but for me, well worth the investment.

 

[SCraig]

I use SanDisk Extreme Pro 95 mbs cards myself - they give me a much faster write speed which helps a lot when shooting in continuous mode. Bit more expensive than your standard class 10 but for me, well worth the investment.

Same here. Based on my personal experience I've had failures with other brands of memory however I've NEVER had a failure with either SanDisk or Kingston so that's all I use any longer.

 

[shovenose]

So the Sony was a bad choice? Damn Alright, if my SanDisk ever lets me down I'll look into a Samsung. They did seem to be a bit on the pricier and less available side...

 

[hamlet]

I use the Transcend sd cards. I have yet to have one fail on me and i'm using it all the time.

 

[Overtime]

Sandisk hands down. I find two 16gb cards are enough most of the time, even shooting raw. I still keep a third handy at all times. The card reader on your computer will be a faster read, but reformat cards in camera.

 

[shovenose]

So I should format the card within the camera every time I put it into the computer and copy the photos to it?

 

[jaomul]

OP the sandisk is likely the best but thats not to say the sony is bad. Your instruction booklet will give you approx amount of shots for different resolution files and formats. It probably will give you the amount for an 8gb card so multiply for 16 and 32 accordingly.

If you set it up correct you wont need to take cards out of your camera everytime you download photos, just plug your camera into your computer. Obviously if you have a number of full cards a reader is your next option. It is generally recommended to format your card in your camera rather than erase files, but this has also been debated. Enjoy

 

[SCraig]

So I should format the card within the camera every time I put it into the computer and copy the photos to it?

This is a somewhat controversial topic, and one that has been debated numerous times. Some feel that the ONLY thing to do is to remove the card from the camera, use a card reader to obtain the images, then reformat it in the camera. Others think the ONLY thing to do is to leave the card in the camera, copy the files to your computer through the camera, then delete them from the camera or reformat the card. I'm of the opinion that neither side is 100% right or 100% wrong but only doing what they have found is a reliable method for them.

Personally I seldom remove the cards from my cameras. I transfer them from camera to computer using Nikon Transfer which deletes them from the camera once the transfer is successful, and also renames them to the format that I prefer on my computer. Once done, I normally turn the camera off and never think about reformatting the card. Two of my camera bodies have two card slots and I use the second for backup. Each shot I take is written to both cards however Nikon Transfer does not delete the backup copies. I will occasionally reformat the backup card simply because it's easier than deleting all the images from it.

Solid-state memory is remarkably trouble-free and odds are you'll never have a problem with any of it. When someone does that's when one particular brand tends to get a bad name and I'm as guilty of that as anyone. I stated I prefer SanDisk and Kingston and that's true but it doesn't necessarily mean other brands are bad, only that those are the brands that *I* prefer.

Solid-state memory does have a finite number of write cycles before it starts to fail, however the number is very, very high. I think it's rated in millions of cycles (which means that the same bits on the card can be written, read, erased, and written again), but I'm not positive. Regardless it's a very high number that most of us will never reach so it's really not worth worrying about.

The bottom line is to just do what feels right to you. There's honestly no right way or wrong way to do it.

 

[shovenose]

So I should format the card within the camera every time I put it into the computer and copy the photos to it?

This is a somewhat controversial topic, and one that has been debated numerous times. Some feel that the ONLY thing to do is to remove the card from the camera, use a card reader to obtain the images, then reformat it in the camera. Others think the ONLY thing to do is to leave the card in the camera, copy the files to your computer through the camera, then delete them from the camera or reformat the card. I'm of the opinion that neither side is 100% right or 100% wrong but only doing what they have found is a reliable method for them.

Personally I seldom remove the cards from my cameras. I transfer them from camera to computer using Nikon Transfer which deletes them from the camera once the transfer is successful, and also renames them to the format that I prefer on my computer. Once done, I normally turn the camera off and never think about reformatting the card. Two of my camera bodies have two card slots and I use the second for backup. Each shot I take is written to both cards however Nikon Transfer does not delete the backup copies. I will occasionally reformat the backup card simply because it's easier than deleting all the images from it.

Solid-state memory is remarkably trouble-free and odds are you'll never have a problem with any of it. When someone does that's when one particular brand tends to get a bad name and I'm as guilty of that as anyone. I stated I prefer SanDisk and Kingston and that's true but it doesn't necessarily mean other brands are bad, only that those are the brands that *I* prefer.

Solid-state memory does have a finite number of write cycles before it starts to fail, however the number is very, very high. I think it's rated in millions of cycles (which means that the same bits on the card can be written, read, erased, and written again), but I'm not positive. Regardless it's a very high number that most of us will never reach so it's really not worth worrying about.

The bottom line is to just do what feels right to you. There's honestly no right way or wrong way to do it.

Alright, so I'll just format it in the camera every time.

 

[480sparky]

..........Personally I seldom remove the cards from my cameras.................

Personally, my cameras rarely get near my computers. I use a card reader 99.999% of the time. This way, there's no chance my camera will fall to the floor being pulled off by a USB cord. Besides, I maintain multiple for the purpose of short-term backups, so the cards come out anyway.

......There's honestly no right way or wrong way to do it.

Ay-yup!

 

[fotofinish]

I'm a card-remover/card reader person myself and I just CUT the files from the card on to a computer. I don't reformat the card - I can't see the point. I have a spare (CF) card I can use in the camera if I need to.

 

[480sparky]

........I don't reformat the card - I can't see the point...........

Reformatting scans the card for bad memory sectors (corrupted section), then prevents those sectors from ever being used.

 

[fotofinish]

True in theory, but does it matter in practice? and then there is this business about damaging SS memory by scanning and defragging.

Its probably all witchcraft anyway!

........I don't reformat the card - I can't see the point...........

Reformatting scans the card for bad memory sectors (corrupted section), then prevents those sectors from ever being used.